Contents

History

After serving his two terms as President, Thomas Jefferson returned home to Virginia in hopes of building a University. Jefferson started drawing his plans for the school, and built ten houses that he called pavilions. The school was founded in 1819, and in March 1825 the University of Virginia opened its doors to 123 students. Thomas Jefferson was a noted critic of organized religion in public settings, and true to his form Jefferson even went so far as to ban the teaching of Theology altogether at his University. Jefferson stated "a professorship of theology should have no place in our institution." [2]

Today

Today the students of the University of Virginia live by an Honor Code that was created over two hundred years ago. The students used to sign the Honor Pledge before taking a test, or writing a paper as a promise that they had not, or would not cheat.

President Sullivan walks with Secretary of State John Kerry

The University has had eight presidents. The current one is Teresa A. Sullivan, who has held the position since August 2010. A former professor of Sociology and "leading scholar in labor force demography," Dr. Sullivan was hailed on her selection as "an extraordinary talent who brings to the University an enormous depth and breadth of experience in every aspect of public higher education."[3]

In 1888 the school implemented orange and blue as the official athletic colors, and the official mascot is the Cavalier, also referred to as the Wahoos. A Wahoo is a fish that can drink three times its weight,[Citation Needed] a clear reference to the University's rampant underage drinking.[4]

U.S News and World Report ranks the University of Virginia as number 23 in the best "national universities, public and private" category, tied with Georgetown University. It also holds the number 1 spot for the best public university for the 2010 year. For the past eleven years it has ranked as either number one or number two in this category.

In November 2014, Rolling Stone magazine printed an article about gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. In response, the President ordered all fraternity activities suspended until January 2015. Subsequently, Rolling Stone disavowed its article. Associate Dean Nicole Eramo, who counseled rape victims, was reassigned to other duties and received anonymous threats. She then sued Rolling Stone and the author of the article for libel. On November 7, 2016, a jury in federal district court awarded Eramo a $3 million verdict.[5]

Bastion of Liberalism

The University of Virginia has in recent years become a bastion of liberalism for the commonwealth of Virginia.[Who says?] University professors have been investigated by conservative Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, who has demanded the seizure of documents from the professor relating to the notorious liberal scandal, Climategate.[6]